hack REWARD
by FalconSword-7
Summary: The sequel to .hackPRESENT. If things seemed crazy enough in the first fic based off .hackGIFT, then be prepared. If you have not read .hackPRESENT yet, I woudl do so before reading this.
1. Eight Reborn

.hack/REWARD 

Okay, it's been a while, but here it is. The sequel to .hack/PRESENT, .hack/REWARD.

Disclaimer: I do not own .hack.

IMPORTANT: If you have not read my other fic '.hack/PRESENT', I would suggest you look for that story first before you read this one.

CHAPTER 1: Eight Reborn

It was a quiet evening in the aqua capital Mac Anu. Three gold rings appeared and disappeared by the chaos gate as an orange clad, blue haired twinblade logged on. He walked toward the bridge, leaned against the railing and stared into the river that passed under.

"Hey." A voice came from behind him. He turned to see a familiar pink-haired heavy blade. "What's new?" Blackrose asked, walking up next to Kite.

"Uh, nothing much. I just logged on."

"Hm. It's been a week since that incident with that giant box. Everything looks normal." Blackrose said looking around the town.

"HEY!" A bubbly voice came from the chaos gate. Mistral ran up to the two. "You two gotta come with me! If found this really cool area!" The wave master grabbed both twin and heavy blade's hand and ran over to the chaos gate.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an isolated part of the World. Eight shadowed figures stood in a circle.

"Hm… perfect" a voice said. Stepping into a sole beam of light was a large, oversized gift box. "I'm lucky to have known about the incident that took place a few months ago. Now… I have created you…" it said to the eight figures. "The EIGHT PHASES!…… uh, version two that is." Eight beams of light shined down upon the eight figures.

The first figure seemed composed of over sized Lego blocks and wielded a long plastic pole. The second seemed like a large floating graham cracker with a few holes punched in it and it was starting to mold. The third was an over sized tree branch with leaves falling off rapidly and with new ones growing just as fast. The fourth figure looked somewhat similar to the second but carried what seemed like a sphere on one end and a short tail on the other. The fifth was a giant mask with two faces on opposite sides. The sixth was an old woman with giant plant roots for legs and had a robotic right arm. The seventh was a snake curled around a sharp wooden spear. The final one was a simple sunflower seed.

The giant box re-looked the eight.

"Okay… not as flashy as the original eight, but it'll do."

"Uh…. Who…where are we?" the first figure asked.

"You eight are all my creations. You are all based off the original eight phases created by an AI known as Morgana. You have all but one purpose…" The box held up a picture of a poorly drawn Kite (think of how Komiyama drew Shugo in .hack/DUSK) "You eight are to eliminate this person. His name is Kite."

"Why are we to destroy this person?" the sixth figure asked.

"There is something I want of him… but I'll explain to you later. For now, just get rid of him!"

"What's in it for us?" the seventh figure asked.

"Yeah! What do we get?" they all asked in unison.

"Oh fine, let's see… oh! Which ever gets rid of this twinblade shall receive 10,000,000 GP."

"What would we use GP for? We can't even buy anything." The second figure asked.

"Yeah, we…" the first one began.

"SHUT UP! Do as I say or I'll delete you all! I created all you eight 'ya know! I can delete you just as easily!" the eight figures stood silent. "That's more like it."

"Hey, what are our names?" the third figure asked.

"Yeah, I don't want to be referred to as to as a figure throughout this whole story!" the fifth figure asked.

"Hm… good point…okay. Your names…" the box's ribbon pointed to the eight figures in order. "Phase 1, Skippy. Phase 2, Incubus. Phase 3, Mr. Maggot. Phase 4, Fidgeter. Phase 5, Gargle. Phase 6, Mecha. Phase 7, Blarnvas. Phase 8, uh… Sunflower."

"Skippy?"

"Incubus?"

"Mr. Maggot?"

"Fidgeter?"

"Gargle?"

"Mecha?"

"Blarnvas?"

"…"

"Yep, they're all perfectly good names."

"THESE NAMES SUCK!" the new phases said in unison. Except the seed that is.

"I mean…Skippy? That's nothing compared to 'Skeith'!"

"Mr. Maggot? I don't have any maggots on me! I want to be called Magus II!"

"Incubus? I'm not a spirit! I'm a graham cracker!"

"…" The phases looked at the sunflower seed that just sat on the ground doing nothing.

"Why the heck would you make this simple seed the final phase?" asked Blarnvas.

"ALL OF YOU, SILENCE!" The box yelled. All phases shut up and stood still.

"Thank you. Just go with your new names. Don't like it? Deal with it. Now then, I'll let you guys go. Eliminate that twinblade! Good luck, and have a nice day." The box said as it warped the eight new phases out of the room.

* * *

"AAAAH!" Kite, Blackrose, and Mistral yelled as they were being chased by 4 large Golems at level 99.

"This isn't right! This area should only be at level 50!" Mistral exclaimed.

"Less talking, more running!"

"Right! Ap Do!" Mistral yelled, increasing everyone's speed. Kite turned the other way.

"Drain…" the bracelet appeared and began to expand "Arc!" five arrows were released from the bracelet and spread in a wide arc, draining all four monsters and turning them into scarecrows.

"Huff…huff… I'm too tired to… attack….ugh…" Blackrose said as she sat on the ground exhausted from all the running.

"Let's gate out then. This place has too many strong monsters." Kite said as three gold rings surrounded all three party members.

* * *

Unbeknown to the three players, the mysterious gift box was watching through a screen in the isolated room.

"Hm… that bracelet of his can be a big problem. Oh well. It wouldn't matter. When the new phases carry out their roles, my plan will be put into place, and then 'The World' shall be mine! HAHAHAAAAHHAAA!….. why am I even talking to myself?"

"Sir?" a voce came from another screen. "This is Phase 1 version 2. I'm in position. Ready for operation 'Old School'."

"Excellent Skippy. Proceed as planned."

"Yes sir." Skippy closed the link between them. '_Why can't he just refer to me as Phase 1 version 2?_'

The gift box looked to another screen where Incubus was shown.

"Is everything good to go on your end?"

"Yes sir. Operation 'Munch' is in place."

"Mr. Maggot" Gift box looked to another screen "What about you?"

"Operation 'Pocket' is good to go."

"Very well. Both of you, don't mess this up!" Gift box closed the link between all of them. "The first three are ready. If all goes well, I will have Kite and his friends right where I want them."

"Sir? Why are you talking to yourself again?" Skippy asked over a newly opened screen.

"Wha? Skippy! I uh… never mind! Get back to your post!" Box said as it closed the screen.

NEXT CHAPTER: OPERATION 'OLD SCHOOL'

Preview: It's been a few weeks since the Spring of Myst event. Kite recieves a strange e-mail telling him about a new area opening up that contains databugs. With nothing better to do, he decides to explore the field, figuring it's just another run after a monster with infinite HP. But to his surprise, the field will be something he'd never expect in the history of 'The World'


	2. Operation Old School

.hack/REWARD

Oye. I've been so busy with summer school, it's taking me longer to update this story. So just for future reference, expect delayed updates.

Disclaimer: I do not own .hack

CHAPTER 2: OPERATION OLD SCHOOL

-I heard of this really weird field at Lambda: Classic Two Field.

-Yeah, I found this strange monster that wouldn't die, no matter how hard I tried to hit it.

-I saw that thing! It has infinite HP!

* * *

Reading the last post on that thread, "DATA BUG" ran through Kite's head immediately. He wasn't too surprised seeing as how the past few days have been a bit strange ever since the Spring of Myst event. He sent a flash mail to everyone on his contact list but no reply. They must have all been busy. He immediately logged on and went to the chaos gate to warp to the area listed. As the three gold rings appeared, the screen became black as usual. Kite sat in his seat expecting the same old type of playing fields with chaos gates and everything. The sense of familiarity vanished as soon as the field became visible.

* * *

"HUH?" was the immediate reaction. This was not a three dimensional field, but a simple eight-bit graphic two-dimensional field. Kite examined himself to see a poorly detailed, pixilated, and somewhat cubicle version of himself. He pressed the buttons on his controller to familiarize himself with the new style of playing. His attack was just his arm holding his short sword appearing instantly in front of him. No matter which way his avatar faced, he would always see the front of it with its head turned to the side, and one new trick he could do… he could jump! (I know in the anime, characters can jump around, but I'm referring to PS2 game play).

With only two directions to go, Kite started moving to the right. The monsters were very weak as they could be killed in one hit, but the same applied to Kite's avatar. He discovered this when something hit him from behind.

"Oops. My mistake he of fair eyes. I didn't realize thou was behind me."

"Piros? What are you doing here?"

"I selected a random area and found myself in this very peculiar place. What brings ye here?"

"Actually, I came here because there may be a data bug here."

"Splendid! Another adventure! Let us march on!" Piros exclaimed.

"Wait! Piros! Ahead of you!"

"Huh? AAAAHHHHhhhhhh!" Piros had walked straight down a pit where he died and his avatar disappeared from the screen. Kite examined his status window in the lower section of the screen to see his health meter was replaced with "number of lives". It became apparent Piros just used the last of his.

* * *

Somewhere in the far background, a blocky figure was observing the twinblade.

"Boss, this is Phase 1 version 2. The red one has fallen for the bait" Skippy said, opening a window/screen to show the thread he posted.

"Excellent. Proceed as planned Skippy. And be careful not to get hit too many times. You remember what I said about his power…"

"Understood. Skippy out." Skippy cut the link between him and the gift box. He moved further down the level where he would meet with Kite.

* * *

The blue haired twinblade got through the field fine with only two lives lost, but he had eight more to go, so he wasn't worried.

"HALT!" came a voice ahead of him.

"Huh? Who's there?" the blue haired boy questioned. A cubic, blocky creature floated down in from of him. It took it's staff from it's side and pointed it at Kite.

"I am Phase 1 version 2. Skippy, the Bringer of Terror!" it said as two-dimensional lightning went off in the background.

"…..ppfft……pfft…." Skippy looked at Kite in question. "Pffffttt….HAHHAAAAAHAAAA!" Skippy jumped. Kite was laughing at him!

"Wha? You1 What's so funny! Answer me now!"

" 'Skippy'?… 'Bringer of Terror'?…HAHAHAAAA!" Kite's pixilated avatar fell backwards.

'_It was only a matter of time before someone would start laughing at me…_' Skippy thought. "Rrrr… Stop laughing! Prepare to die!" The phase threw his staff at Kite, making him disappear and regenerating back in the center of the section of the level with one life less.

The two battled, 'instantly appearing' short swords versus a large pixilated staff. Skippy was very cautious not to get hit very much fearing the twinblade's Data Drain.

"You cannot defeat me! Prepare for my ultimate attack! RRAAH!" Skippy back flipped, getting into position to attack, but wasn't paying a lot of attention to the land around him as he fell down one of the pits and regenerated in the middle of the screen. As his figure came into view, a shattering glass sound was heard. "Oh crud, what did I do?"

"Heh….DATA…" Kite's bracelet appeared. Even it was cubicle and the sounds it would normally make were replaced with old sound effects from much earlier game systems "DRAIN!" the tendrils of data that would appear were replaced with streams of multi colored pixels, all flowing toward Skippy. As they came in contact, a large red circle expanding in size appeared where Skippy was. The phase had disappeared. At that moment, the field began to static. Everything that was there left its two dimensional state and reverted back to its 3-D self.

* * *

"Fool! What were you doing!" the gift box yelled.

"I'm sorry sure, I'll try harder next time." Skippy said, reduced to but a simple cube.

"There won't be a next time Skippy. Because you're deleted!" The gift box pointed one of its ribbons at the phase and it disappeared.

"Well, so much for him. Incubus!" A window with the second phase appeared in front of box. "Is Operation _Munch _ready?"

"Sir, I'm making final preparations, but other than that, I should have everything ready by tomorrow."

"TOMORROW! I want it done now!"

"Sir…" Fidgeter came up on a second window "If I may, I think it would be wise to continue this process tomorrow. Trying to modify the landscaping and alter gameplay is a very long process for us. Besides, doing it too quickly may corrupt the system which means we won't be able to continue this plan of yours."

"Oh fine. All phases, take the rest of the day off!" Box said, closing all links to the phases.

* * *

Kite returned to his desktop to find he had two e-mails in his inbox.

_Dear 'The World' User,_

_As of today, there has been an abnormal error in our system coding in one of our fields. We apologize to anyone who may have experienced problems during this time. The error is now gone, but there may still be faults in the programming. We should be able to fix the bug tomorrow. Thank you_

_-The World Administrators_

The second one was from a fellow twinblade.

_H3110._

_I f0und 4 v3ry in73r357ing 4r34 7h3 07h3r d4y. M337 m3 47 D3174: Circu14r M4z3 Run. S33 y0u 7h3n._

_-50r4_

With nothing else to do, Kite turned off his PC and turned in for the night.

* * *

"Well? Is it done?" a giant wrapped figure asked at three o' clock in the morning.

"Yes sir. I have completed the layout of the field, and I put in the program you asked." Incubus replied.

"Excellent. Now, go help the other phases. I need this plan to be perfect and that means I need these levels ready at the exact time I've planned!"

"Okay, but didn't you tell us to take the rest of the day off? And we're kinda tired, so…"

"When I said the rest of the day, I mean all of that SPECIFIC day. And once it's midnight hour, it's already 'tomorrow'. Get it? Got it? Good." Gift box said as it closed the link between him and phase 2. "Soon, all will be complete and I shall have total dominance. Soon, this will no longer be some World online… but… it shall…."

"Excuse me sir, but you're talking to yourself again." Incubus said, appearing in a new window.

"Wha? Incu… GAH! When will you guys stop popping in like that!" Box closed the window again and left the room.

NEXT CHAPTER: OPERATION MUNCH

Playing the 'World' two dimensionally is pretty strange. But what happens when it appears in more and more fields? And when Kite is separated from his bracelet, how is he going to get it back if it's scattered all over the field? Find out next time. Until then, see ya.


	3. Operation Munch

.hack/REWARD

Phew... after all that work in Summer School, I've finally been able to update .

Disclaimer: I do not own .hack. If I did, I would have used the 8 phases version 2's names in the games instead of the original 8 XP.

CHAPTER 3: OPERATION MUNCH

Kite logged into Carmina Gadelica.

"H3y, 480u7 7im3 y0u 5h0w3d up." Sora said sitting on a nearby bench.

"Hi sora. You said there was an "in73r357ing 4r34"... I mean... "interesting area" the other day?"

"You bet. Come with me." Sora punched in the words 'Circular Maze Run'.

Three gold rings surrounded them and they reappeared in another two-dimensional field similar to what Kite ran into the other day. The only difference was the entire back ground was black and there were blue walls forming single-person pathways.

"Huh? What is this?"

"FREEZE MORTALS!" a very deformed figure cried from the top of the system of paths.

"000... 4 m0n573r 7h47 74lk5..."

"I am no mere monster. I am INCUBUS, the Illusion of Deceiving!"

"...'Illusion of Deceiving'...?" Kite asked, scrathing his head of blue hair.

"Hey, I didn't ask for that name, OKAY?"

"Hmmm... 7hi5 c0u1d g37 in73r357ing..." Sora said, showing one of his blades in a threatening manner.

"Keh... don't think this is any other battle you've fought before. Watch this! Initiating Operation Munch. Activating Program!" upon saying those words, five arrows similar to the Twilight Bracelets wrapped around kite and engulfed him in a mass of binary digits.

"Wha..what is this? AAAH!" Kite yelled in pain. The plethora of zeros and ones dissappeard and revealed a lone circle with a single eye, orange hat, and a mouth that opened at one end. "AH! I'm deformed in another 2-D sprite!"

"And that's not all Bracelet Bearer." Incubus said. Kite looked around in surprise. Transperent blue and green shards of the twilight bracelet were scattered across the field between rows of blue walls. "My bracelet!"

"That's right, you cant' use it if you dont' have it. Whatmore, I shattered your pathetic item! HAHAHAA!"

"D4mn m0n573R! H0w c0m3 I c4n'7 83 in 4ny 0f 7hi5?" Sora said as a two dimentional sprite of a twinblade sitting on the side of the field in a colum on the right.

"Quiet! Now... go forth minnions!" Incubus said as ghost-shaped sprites were released from the center of the field.

'_Darn... I can't use weapons in this form... I'll have to get the bracelet... but it's scattered all around..._' A ghost was nearing Kite _'No time to think... gotta get going!'_ "waka-waka-waka-waka-waka-waka-waka!" Kite said as he collected Bracelet shards in his mouth while avoiding ghosts.

* * *

"Sigh... there's nothing to do..." Blackrose said as she sat down on a bench in Carmina Gadelica. As she did, a crackling sound was heard near the chaos gate, and in a flash of light, Sora fell out through the large rotating ring.

"D4mn m0n573r! H0w d4r3 h3 r3j3c7 m3!"

"Sora?"

"Hm? 0h, it'5 y0u Mimiru."

"I'm **BLACKROSE**! Don't confuse me with that wannabe!" She gave Sora an angry look.

"Y34h wh473v3r. 5tupid m0n5t37,ph453 0r wh473v3r 7h47 7hing is!" Sora began to mumble.

"...Huh? Phase? What Phase?" Blackrose instantly got up off the bench.

"Hm? 0h, Mr. 8lu3-h4ir is 0ff in Circu14r M4z3 Run battling some... HUH?" Sora stopped and looked around to realize Blackrose had already left.

* * *

"Waka-Waka-Waka-Waka-Waka-Waka-Waka-Waka!" Kite was gobbling up bracelet shards. He had already been taken by teh ghosts 2 times and one more would certainly make him go into a coma. He found himself heading for a corner but turned as a ghost cut off his route. "Waka-Waka-Waka-Waka-Wa...HUH?" Kite looked to find another ghost heading toward him. He looked back and forth. _'I'm stuck! Oh boy... this is it...' _Just as the Ghost reached Kite, three gold rings formed next to him and a circular head of Blackrose appeared next to him.

"Huh? What the hell is this? Why am I..." she couldn't finish as a ghost attacked her and reappeared near the center of the field.

"Thank you blackrose!" Kite said as he used this oppurtunity to sneak around the corner as the ghost was delayed.

"Huh? Hey? What's going on here? And why do I look so retarded?"

"No time to explain...Waka-Waka-Waka-Waka..." Kite took the last bracelet shard and spit up the full Twilight Bracelet. "BLEH!... DATA...DRAIN!" 5 blue and green shards were launched toward Incubus. The second phase turned into a mere grey blob ontop of the field.

"Uh..." Blackrose said, perplexed on the whole situation. Kite gated out with her and found themselves back in Carmina Gadelica. "...what the hell was all that?"

"It's a long story, I'll explain later."

"Well, tell me another time. I gotta go. See you tomorrow." Blackrose said logging out.

"Hm..." Kite looked back down at his bracelet. He ran a finger over it and licked it. _'Hm... not that bad...'

* * *

_

Meanwhile, in a dark isolated room.

"Hm... so, Incubus failed as well... Mr. Maggot, are you ready for the next operation?"

"Yes sir. Preperations are complete."

"Excellent. Soon, my plan for 'World' domination will be complete. HAHAHAAA!HAHAAAHAAA!"

_'...he really needs to learn not to laugh so loud for so long...'_ Maggot said as he closed the link between them.

Sorry if this chapter seems a bit shorter than the others. I'll try to make the next one longer. Until then, see ya.

NEXT CHAPTER: OPERATION POCKET

Preview: Kite and co get ready for the battle against Phase 3 v.2. This next field may be two-dimensional as well, but at least graphics have improved slightly, and thankfuly, it'll revert back to RPG style. But little does Kite know, Data Drain operates VERY differently here.


	4. Operation Pocket

HYAA! I'm back! I'm very sorry for taking such a long time to update this fic. Don't worry! I WILL CONTINUE ON WITH THE SERIES! Those of you who though it was dead, SHAME ON YOU! Nya, Just kidding.

Anyway, enough ranting, here it is:

CHAPTER 4: OPERATION POCKET

It was a nice day outside. Kite walked around his neighborhood pondering over the recent events in the digital realm.

'_Hmmm… Another set of phases… ugh… to think something like this would happen again. Well, I guess I'll have to go back to my normal habits…_' he thought. Playing the world the first time around with the original phases took a lot of time from his other tasks like schoolwork. '_But if these phases plan to harm others, than I'm willing to do it all over again!'

* * *

_

Meanwhile in a nameless area…

"Is everything ready on your end Mr. Maggot?" The Giant Present box asked though a communicator window.

"Yes. Programming of the field is done." The phase said.

"Excellent. Now, all we have to do is send the e-mail. You did type it up didn't you?"

"Yes sir. It's ready."

"Alright good. Now send it!"

"Right away." Within a few moments, e-mail was sent straight to Kite's inbox.

* * *

"Hey, a message." Kite said to himself, opening the letter.

GONGRATULATIONS!

YOU HAVE BEEN PICKED RANDOMLY FOR NO APPERANT REASON AND HAVE WON $1,000,000 !

The young boy's eyes widened

'_This isn't… really? I'm rich! YEEESS!' _He jumped up off his seat and danced around (XP)

* * *

"WHAT?" The present box screamed "MAGGOT! You sent the wrong one!"

"Yes sir… my apologies…" Maggot said as he sent the correct one."

* * *

"Hm? Oh, another message" he clicked the letter and it opened.

HELP ME KITE! I'm trapped in Omega: Small Spherical Creatures! Some big huge monster is forcing me to do bad things and is beating me senselessly. Ohhh… the agony! Help me! OW! He hit me in the head! Aggh! My arm is breaking! HEEEELLLPPP!

Your Friend,

Piros

Kite looked at the email with a raised eyebrow, questioning the context of the message.

'_Would someone really be willing to type all that out in the midst of a battle?' _he thought. It sounded too farfetched, so he let it slide. Plus, inside, he really didn't want to go through Piros and his theme song that would always come on whenever he was in the party.

* * *

"…… he hasn't logged yet." Mr. Maggot said to the Box.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU PUT DOWN THE WRONG NAME!" Box yelled through the communication window.

"…oops… lemme try again…"

"and use a different message as well! He'll get suspicious if we use the same one."

* * *

"Hm? Another message…"

KITE! PLEASE! HELP ME! I'm trapped in Omega: Small Spherical Creatures with some Giant monster I can't beat! Oh gosh! HELP! GGGGAAAAHHH! OH GAWD! It's ripping into my intestine shredding them up and making them fly all over with blood dispersing into the air and I'm loosing consciousness and I have to wrap up this e-mail. HELP MEEEEE!

Love,

Blackrose

'_Whoa… this looks serious…'_ The young boy thought as he slipped on the headset, took the controller into his hands and logged in. His blue haired, red-clad avatar appeared by the Chaos Gate in the Delta Server.

* * *

"Hi Kite" Natsume said as she saw the fellow Twinblade enter the Root Twon.

"Hello Kite I was wondering if you-" Terajima started to say behind Natsume but was cut off.

"Sorry girls, I can't talk now. Gotta get to Omega. Blackrose is in a lot of trouble." He said as his avatar disappeared to the Omega Server.

"Hmm?… something tells me something is wrong with this…" Terajima said to Natsume.

"I agree. I'm getting a strange feeling about this."

"What do you say we follow him?"

"Let's do I!" with that both of the girls warped to the Omega server where they caught to Kite before he could use the chaos gate again.

"Kite! We wish to help you in your task." The heavyaxe wielder said to Kite.

"Yes. I'll help as well!" Natsume said after her.

"Alright. It'll be easier in a group as well" he quickly accessed his menu and added the two girls to his party and warped to Small Spherical Creatures

* * *

"Oh no… not again…" Kite said to himself. The screen showed him to be in another two-dimensional level with his avatar looking somewhat like a chibi figure along with Natsume's and Terajima's. .

"ALAS WE MEET BEARER OF THE BRACELET!" A text box at the bottom of the screen displayed.

"Huh? Who are you?" Kite's message read.

"I am… Mr. Maggot, the Presentation!"

"…"

"…what?"

"…'the Presentation?'"

"Look! I didn't ask for that name, okay? Ahem… anyway, it's time I send your avatar to it's maker!"

"But… I'm the one who made my avatar."

"I mean I will send it to…GAH! Forget it! Battle on!" With those words said, the screen flashed a couple times before the display set showed a pixilated sprite of Kite from the back facing Phase 3.2.

"Alright, enough, hand over Blackrose!"

"haha! Wow, you're gullible. I sent that E-mail!"

"Wha..?" Kite's window said, bewildered. His thoughts returned to the phase when its sprite moved shifted forward Kite took damage to his HP to which the health meter was now placed next to his avatar. _'Ugh…. Concentrate… now how do I attack in this mode?..'_ it only took a second for him to find the Attack option on the screen with a list of all the attacks a Twinblade possesses.

* * *

Back in the Delta Server, Blackrose sat by the ledge of the road, feet almost touching the water.

'_Sigh… No one is online! I wish something would happen…'_ As if on cue, a chime rang in her headset as a new message arrived in her inbox. _'Well, speak of the devil'_ she thought as she exited the World to check it out.

OH GOSH! IT'S HORRIBLE! I'M BEING KILLED IN Lambda: Hideous Falling Shapes! MONSTER ARE COMING FROM ALL DIRECTIONS AND ARE RIPPING ME TO SHREADDS AND CRUSHIGN EVERY SINGLE BONE IN MY BODY! GGGAAAHHH!

Love,

Kite

"Whaaa? What the hell is happening?" She logged back in quickly and took the Chaos Gate to the Lambda Server.

* * *

Kite's HP was running low. _'Items…let's see…here it is Health Drink. Lucky this battle is turn based!' _he thought as he gulped down the health drink, restoring part of his HP.

Mr. Maggot's was still fairly healthy. "Fool! I will obliterate you and delete you and that funny hat of yours!"

"Not quite yet… DRAGON RAGE (Do you see any irony in this?)" Kite's window displayed as his avatar was shown moving quickly slashing at Mr. Maggot as trails of fire followed his two short swords, lowering its HP significantly. "NOW! DATA DRAIN!" Five arrows of blue and green shot out at Mr. Maggot, binary digits surrounding the Phase's sprite. The digits flashed three times before they stopped and the arrows returned to Kite's wrist. 'Virus Core M has been added to inventory' was displayed at the bottom of the screen. As soon as the message window closed, the field reverted back to a normal Three-dimensional field as all the others.

"Phew… That's 3 down 5 to go. Hm?" Kite looked around" _'…where did Natsume and Terajima go?' _he wondered, not seeing them anywhere on the map.

* * *

Blackrose entered the Lambda server and found Mistral standing by it.

"Hey there! Where are you headed off to?" She said in her well known bubbly voice.

"Mistral! Hey, Kite's in trouble, we need to head to Lambda: Dangerous Falling Shapes!"

"Oooo. Alrighty. Let's…. uh oh…. The baby's crying. I'll catch up to you. Give me a moment." Mistral said as she left the terminal, leaving her avatar standing idly next to the gate.

"Alright, let's see…" the heavyblade punched in the three keywords and warped…

* * *

"So… the third one has fallen as well. No matter. Fidgeter!" The Present Box yelled.

"Yes boss?"

"How are the plans for the next Step?

"They're all prepared. I believe Kite's ally fell for the bait."

"Excellent. Soon, everything shall fall into place. I shall gain control over the entire World. And nothing shall stop me! HAHAHAHA! WWHAHAHAHAHAH!

"Um…yeah.." the phase said as it closed the link between it and the box as it continued its maniacal laughter.

NEXT CHAPTER: OPERATION BLOCKS

Big Trouble! Blackrose is out fighting a phase and no Bracelet to help clear its invincibility. It's Kite to the rescue but it won't be so easy with what Fidgeter has in store for him. And where exactly did Natsume and Terajima go? Find out next tie in Chapter 5. Until then, see ya!

A/N: Oh, for those who didn't get it earlier, DRAGON RAGE is a higher leveled version of TWIN DRAGON, the fire based twinblade attack. It's also the name of the Dragon type attack in the pocket monsters series that the current battle was based off of. Funny how they appear to have the same name huh?


	5. Operation Blocks

Hellos! Wow. Been a while since I last updated. Well, here it is for your viewing/reading pleasure.

CHAPTER 5: OPERATION BLOCKS

"Ughhh… what happened?" Natsume asked, getting up from the ground. She found Ryoko next to her and looked around to realize they were standing in a dark, completely blank field.

"I don't have a clue, but if I recall, we were following Kite around in tha weird field…" Ryoko said, recalling that their avatars had appeared as chibi pixilated figures before.

"Ah… they're finally awake…" said a voice behind them. They turned around to notice a giant box-like figure.

"And who might you be?" Ryoko questioned.

'_Hmmm… these two are the ones that also have their sights on Bracelet-boy…_' The box thought and used his ribbon to reach behind him and pull out a seed that was the Eight Phase version two. '_They'll do just fine…_'

"Um.. excuse me…? Sir?" Natsume said, wondering what would happen. '_I'm not getting a very good feeling about this…_'

* * *

Meanwhile, in Lambda: Hideous Falling Shapes 

Blackrose walked around the seeming blank field

"Where is he? Could someone realy get mutilated in a place like this? That-" suddenly a large object hit her in the head from above. "GAAH! Oww… What the hell?" she looked up and saw what looked like a huge mask.

"Die under my blocks of terror!" it yelled and dropped more blocks on Blackrose.

"Ow! Hey! Gah! Stop dropping those..OW!…" Blackrose's anger had suddenly peeked "Youuuu…..RRRAAAH!" she equipped her broad sword and swung hard at the next block, launching it back at the mask. Upon contact, the mask fell over and landed flat on the ground, dead.

"….ooooookay…" Blackrose said, confused at what had happened.

* * *

At a nameless field… 

"What? It failed? Just like that?" the box yelled out in disbelief.

"Yes. It seems you never gave Fidgeter they programming that you install in the rest of us to make us invincible." Blarnvas explained.

"GYAAAH!" Box slammed his ribbon-fist onto a table "Get Gargle and prepare for the 5th operation then."

* * *

Elsewhere in a random field…

Kite lay down under a tree, staring up into the overcast sky, taking a break from all his exploits.

"Oh, it's Kite." A girl's voice came from behind the tree

"Hm? Oh, hi A-20." Kite greeted when something flashed in his head. He looked at the area information and the fellow twinblade's level. "Uh, this area is at least 30 levels above your own…"

"Yeah, but I heard there was a golden grunty here which I wanted to get."

"But you be killed in no time if you went up against any monsters here."

"Oh no worries. I thought I'd sneak around all of them. Maybe they wont' notice." A-20 said. Kite sweatdropped at the plan seeing as how it's inevitable to fight monsters in the dungeon.

"Uh… how about I help you out instead?"

"Oh, that would be great. Thanks."

The two twinblades ventured through the dungeon, defeating one monster after the other until they got the grunty from the gott statue.

"Yay!" A-20 exclaimed as she took the golden grunty. But just before she could use it, a shadow swiftly entered the room and snatched it from her hands and went back the way it came. "Wha…?" Kite took off after whatever it was. He caught a glimpse of the figure turning a corner and dashed after it. He was led into a dead end and in the next moment, found a steel blade at the side of his neck.

"Gr337ing5 f3110w 7win814d3!"

"Sora? What do you want?" Kite said, turning around and backing quickly to escape the blade's range of attack.

"Why I'v3 833n m34ning to 54y 7hi5 f0r 4 whi13 n0w. Ki73, I ch4113ng3 y0u 70 4 du31!"

"What? Right here? Now?

"y35555 ind33d!"

"mmm… well, can you at least give back the golden grunty?"

"I wi11. If y0u c4n 8347 m3 7h47 i5." Kite figured it was the only way to get back A-20's item. He took out his strongest blades and accepted the challenge.

"3xc3113n7!" Sora said as he unleashed his blades from the wrist device and jumped into the air "Pr3P4R3 YOURSE-"

"There you are!" A red-clad long arm interrupted

"Hm? Krim?" Kite looked toward the entrance of the room.

"4h, I h4v3 4n07h3r 74rg37 70 p14y wi7h!" Sora said, landing and changing his direction toward Krim.

"This is revenge for last time!" the long arm shouted as he took out his weapon only to find Sora jumping over him and land behind him.

"R3v3ng3? N07 in y0ur 1if37im3!" Sora reached down and gripped hold of Krim's garment and yanked hard, giving him a wedgie.

"GYAAH! Hey! Let go you-" Before he could finish his sentence Sora let go and let the clothing article snap at Crim's back, making him yelp another cry of pain.

'_I didn't think that was possible in The World…_' Kite thought, watching the whole scene.

"M4y83 7h47'11 734ch y0u 70 n07 in73rup7 m3 in 4n imp0r74n7 847713!"

"You little… that's it!" Krim shouted as he started casting magic spells at Sora while chasing him around the room, Sora jumping about in a silly manner, dodging each blast.

"H3r3, 74k3 84ck y0ur G01d3n Grun7y. W3'11 figh7 4n07h3r d4y." Sora said as he took off trough the exit while tossing the grunty back to Kite. Krim took pursuit of the green haired twin blade. Kite walked back to the statue room and returned the golden grunty.

"Thank you Kite. Um…oh! Here, you can have this in return for helping me." A-20 gave Kite a "Warped Potion".

"Hm? What does this item do?"

"I don't know. I just found it one day. Well, I need to go. Gotta do some things. See you later." A-20 used the golden grunty to increase her max HP before using a sprite ocarina. Kite decided to log out for a short while.

* * *

Meanwhile… 

Blackrose checked through her email and found one new message.

_Dear Blackrose,_

_When you can, please meet me and Terajima Ryoko and me at Omega: Befallen Maidens Sipping-bug. Thank you._

_-Natsume_

'_Hmm…alrighty then._' Blackrose slipped on the head set and logged into The World.

Later at the designated area, she found the two girls standing at the entrance of the dungeon.

"Hi girls. So, what is it that you want?" she asked in a friendly tone.

"Come with us" Terajima said in a monotonic voice.

"To the Gott Statue room." Natsume said in an equally apathetic tone.

"Um…. Alright." Blackrose responded. She couldn't' shake the fact that something wasn't right. She dismissed it for now and followed them in. She noticed that the dungeon was cleared of monsters and all the chests were gone. When they reached the Gott Statue room, she found it to be empty as well.

"Hey, uh, what's with this dungeon, there's no one here, and…" Before she could finish, the twinblade and heavy axewoman held their respective sword and axe to Blackrose's throat

"Natsume! Terajima! What the hell are you two…"

NEXT CHAPTER: SUNFLOWER's WRATH

Preview: What has come over Natsume and Terajima? How will Blackrsoe get out of this situation? And what exactly is a Warped Potion suppose to do? Well, you'll have to wait and find out, that's what! Hahaha! Cliffhanger! XP XD


	6. Sunflower's Wrath

I'm very sorry on the long update…again ! I thank you all for yoru patience. I've been busy with school lately and I haven't had much time to write up the next chapter.

Well, I won't waste anymore time talking. Here it is!

CHAPTER 6: SUNFLOWER's WRATH

"What the hell are you two doing!" Blackrose yelled out to the twinblade and heavyaxe.

"Die…." They both said in unison.

"Huh? C'mon! What is this really all about? Just what are you-" The pink haired heavyblade couldn't finish her sentence as Terajima had just equipped a giant mallet in place of her axe and knocked out Blackrose

"We are not you're friends…" both said in unison again. "We… I am… SUNFLOWER"

* * *

"Excellent. We have captured Kite's partner. Now, all we need to do is send him the e-mail." The Giant Present Box said from his dark room.

"I'll send it to him." Gargle said through a communication window.

"By the way, Phase 5.2… tell the other phases that this field-modification plan will be canceled."

"Hm? Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I have another idea. One that won't require different styles of gameplay."

"You know… those fields really didn't have any advantage in them. Regardless of what we did, Kite still data drained the phases. Not to mention Blackrose took on Fidgeter alone and won there."

"You're point?"

"Please excuse me for saying this… but your plan has been pretty pointless so far. Why are we even here? Why did you make the Eight Phases version 2? Are you trying to cause second cursed wa-"

"SILENCE!"

"…………………"

"Hmmm…but perhaps, one more step of my original plan should be put into action…" The box said as it started typing at the virtual terminal in front of it.

* * *

"Yawwwwwnnnn….." Kite yawned as he lay on his bed. The moment he heard the mail-chime on his computer, he sprang up and sat infront of the terminal.Hey Kite, come on down to Sigma: Modern Dismayed Allies. It's full of tough monsters with a really rare item below in the Gott Statue. I'll be waiting for you in the dungeon. -Blackrose 'hmm..wonder what she wants…' Kite wondered as he put on the head set. He logged into the Sigma server and found Tsukasa the moment the root town came into view on the screen. "Hi Tsukasa. Hey, would you mind coming with me to a dungeon? It's full of strong monsters and I can't get a hold of anyone else." 

"No. Leave me alone! Leave me be as I bewail over my miserable existence in this stupid virtual world!" The wavemaster said turning around, away from Kite

"uhhh…" _'This must be that wandering A.I. Tsukasa…. Gosh.. the personality seems more angst than before…_' Kite thought. Just then the real Tsukasa logged in

"Oh, hello Kite. Hm? Wha?" Tsukasa looked over to the AI Tsukasa.

"Oh yeah… I never did tell you before did I?" Kite asked, sweatdropping. "Tsukasa, this is um… Tsukasa. Apparently a wandering AI of your character."

"Hmmm… I see."

"Hm? What? Now I have people dressing up like me?" the AI said.

"Well, actually this would mean I came before you" Tsukasa said.

"meh" the AI turned around.

"….oh yeah, Tsukasa, I wanted to ask, would you mind heading for a dungeon with me?" Kite asked.

"I told you NO already."

"Um, not you, the real Tsukasa."

"Oh sure, where to?"

"Siiiiiigggghhhhh… people are so selfish… and why won't people leave me alone? Why must I suffer?" the AI said looking down over the edge of the root town.

"Hey! I never acted like _that_!"

"Shut up. I can act however I want."

"Are you sure you're an AI created from _my_ data…?"

"Are you trying to imply something?"

"No, but the way you're acting…"

"Um.." Kite interrupted "Why don't we just get going?" he said and sweatdropped at the two identical wavemasters.

* * *

Later at Sigma: Modern Dismayed Allies

Kite appeared in a grassy field as the three gold rings disappeared.

"Oh give it a rest already! I told you, fine do what you want. You're not actually me." Said the real Tsukasa who had been conversing with the AI all along.

"FINE! I'm glad you see it my way. Now –BEEP- off or something." The AI said. Both Tsukasa and Kite's eyes went wide at the statement

'_Hmm…. Seems the wandering AI's personality data is somewhat deteriorating… well, nothing much can be done about that._' Thought Helba, viewing the scene from a distance.

Kite looked around the field and spotted two familiar faces up ahead. He ran up and greeted them. "Hey Natsume, Terajima. What are you two doing here?"

"… Target sighted…" Natsume said in a monotonic voice.

"What?" Kite said bewildered

"Time to finish him…" Ryoko said as she lifted her axe and slashed downward on Kite.

"Whoa!" Kite formed an X with his two daggers to block the incoming attack and pushed it away and jumped back. "What are you two doing?

"Natsume it's time the nuisance be killed and we take away that bracelet." Natsume said.

'_I don't want to fight them, but something isn't right here…_' Kite thought as he looked at his two allies advancing toward him. Natsume suddenly dashed behind Kite and held him in place before he could react. Ryoko held her axe above her head again and made a cut at Kite's arm. The slash cut at Kite's left elbow joint and the lower half of his digitalized arm fell off. Natsume threw Kite to the side, grabbed the arm and ran off with Ryoko.

"As long as we can't used the bracelet he won't be a problem." She said.

"We'll deal with his life another day." Ryoko said as they both gated out. Kite sat on the ground, dumbfounded at what had just happened to his right limb. There was no blood, but by looking at where his arm was cut, small streams of data and binary digits could be seen flowing around in what would be his avatar. After a few moments of staring, he finally snapped

"GYYYAAAAHH! What the ? How…why..wha just…. My arm!" he shouted, waving his newly formed half arm through the air. "Oh my gosh! I'm missing part of my arm! GWWAAAH!" He ran around in circles a few times before stopping and slapping himself on the head. "huff…huff…. Okay…. I just need to log out and think this over…." With that Kite gated out

* * *

"EXCELLENT!" The box yelled. "Now our plans will go by smoothly. Without his bracelet, he can no longer stop us in our quest for World domination! No pun intended."

"What do you plan to do with it?" Natsume asked.

"Hm?" The box looked over to the two female figures. "Hey, sunflower, you can give it a rest now. You don't need those hosts anymore." Upon hearing this, half a sunflower flew out from the two avatar's mouths and fell onto the floor where they collided and became a full sunflower seed. The two avatars disappeared afterward.

* * *

"C'mon! Please work…" Natsume said, sitting by her computer. '_my account has been deactivated for a long while now… I hope nothing happened to the…_' As if on queue, the computer logged her into the world where she found her green haired twinblade character on the screen "Yeah! It works again." She said joyfully.

* * *

"Hmm..how odd. I hope nothing was happening to the network. At least I get to play in the World again." Terajima said sitting in front of her own computer as her computer finally logged her back into the world.

* * *

An hour later, Kite re-entered the World. Half his right arm still missing. He received many stares from surrounding players and they looked at the binary digits that were floating around where his arm ended.

"Hey, Kite! What happened to you?" A wavemaster with a book bag strapped around his shoulder ran up to the twinblade

"Long time no see Kazu. Well… it's a very long story…"

"As if! My spells are a lot stronger than yours! I've been upgrading my character lately, and what have you done? Just mope around and act all depressed!" Tsukasa yelled at the AI in which they've been fighting for quite some time now.

"You wanna piece of this? Bring it on son of a –BEEP-!" the AI yelled as the two wave masters released summons spells at one another.

NEXT CHAPTER: BROKEN LIMBS AND WELTED ROSES

Preview: What will Kite do? With part of his arm missing and no bracelet, he'll need to find a way to recover his limb quickly. And what ever happened to Blackrose? Where is she? Find out Next time!

Again, sorry for the very long update! I'll try and work on the next chapter as soon as possible!


End file.
